Hot Off The Press: hotDOCS Report

14 May 2008

FTI Member Ashley Barron Reports from hotDOCS, Toronto Canada

Reviews

April 2008 saw filmmakers, producers, distributors, commissioning editors, broadcasters, and buyers from around the globe flock to Canada’s second capital of Toronto to preside at the world’s largest and leading documentary festival, hotDOCS.

hotDOCS revved into gear with an opening night at the MARS Centre in the University of Toronto district where all the delegates had a chance to warm up their networking skills and meet the various attendees. Five different theatre locations began screening the best of the best of the year that the documentary world had to offer. The conference spanning the entire ten days began holding talks, panels and presentations regarding the state, issues and practices of the industry. Terms of trade, cinematography practices, new technologies and the status of women in the field were all covered.

The Conference
The biggest of the industry sessions were the Doc Summit and the International Co-Production day meetings. At the Doc Summit key stakeholders came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and topics outlined strategic solutions. These covered the terms of trade, cross platforms, women in documentary and the infamous Bill C-10. With many members of the audience being female, the ‘Please Do Adjust Your Set’ presentation on gender inequity in the industry was the most popular discussion.

International Co-Production Day, something a little closer to Australia’s heart, was a day long gathering of Canadian and international producers with the ultimate goal to spark and facilitate new co-productions among attending delegates. Each of the panels provided information on financing and production in each of their region, outlining both obstacles and advantages facing them in their processes.

The conference also covered issues for directors as well as tech talk. Concepts behind the documentary practice were discussed in seminars such as ‘Up Close and Personal: Filming Families and Communities’, ‘Trust Me: Relationships Between Subjects and Filmmakers’, and ‘The Feeling of Being There’ featuring none other than Richard Leacock, while new technologies were investigated and presented in ‘Carbon Sound and Picture’.

The Doc Workshop
There was an exciting new addition, or rather upgrade, to this year’s hotDOCS – the Doc Workshop. In previous years, buyers from various networks and organizations had access to films from the festival via individual DVDs or VHS tapes that were signed out to them by members of staff. This limited the amount of films that were viewed and became an overall challenge during peak times. The newly introduced digital version of the Workshop gave registered buyers full access to all films (whether or not featured in the festival) at any time of the working day. Buyers were also able to e-mail themselves a playlist, including viewing comments and the filmmaker’s contact details, of the films they watched. Those comments, along with a list of the viewers’ names, were also made available to the filmmakers.

The TDF
The Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF), now in its ninth year, is considered the most effective international market in North America for producers, broadcasters and others working in the social, political and cultural documentary genres. Here independent producers and their co-market partners seek to raise co-financing from the international marketplace, while buyers are presented with pre-selected projects in development and production. Over 130 key international broadcasters from Europe, Australia, Japan, the USA and Canada attend annually. TDF has been responsible for the development of relationships among commissioning editors, producers, broadcasters and distributors. Contact (Martin Butler/Contact Films) was the only Australian film to obtain a one on one pitching program meet.

The Social Side
There’s one thing filmmakers know how to do well (besides making films that is) and that is to party, and hotDOCS catered for this with many events organized for the delegates to kick up their heels and socialize. This included the Canadian Filmmaker’s Party, a night with the Scandinavian delegates at the grand Circa Nightclub, and an evening for the Toronto Documentary Forum members. In addition, there were networking lunches held after the main panel presentations to provide the delegates with a chance to continue discussions and speak informally with panel members.

The festival wrapped by recognizing the contribution of filmmakers at the hotDOCS Awards Presentation with ten awards and thirty thousand dollars in cash and prizes presented. Richard Leacock was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the industry.

Australian films at hotDOCS
Australian feature ‘Beyond Our Ken’ – an investigation into Kenja, a controversial Australian spiritual enlightenment organization – was a hot favorite, with sold out audiences and rave reviews. The success of the film was almost guaranteed after a heated discussion at the film’s premiere between filmmaker Melissa McLean and Kenja representatives who had traveled from Australia to voice their opposing views.

Overall, it was a fun and exciting week with many films to see and many discussions to hear. It was good to see Australia strongly represented with many submissions, screenings and accents flowing around the hotDOCS camp. Bring on 2009!

By Ashley Barron, FTI Member